Now that the US sees the EU as a potential enemy, Europe has moved to ensure its financial system can never be sanctioned or shut down; something the US has done to Russia, Cuba, and Iran.
By late 2025, efforts centered on the Digital Euro, a nonprofit payment system run by the European Central Bank (like euro cash). Due by 2030, it would offer lower fees and quickly replace much Visa and Mastercard usage. While still in development, other solutions arrived sooner. Instant bank-to-bank payments, bypassing cards, are expanding rapidly. In February, 130 million users across 13 national systems were linked in a Europe-wide network aiming to cover all of Europe. Fees are a fraction of Visa/Mastercard, though unlike the Digital Euro, it’s not yet available as a debit card; only online and on phones.
The EU also wants to decouple from US software and is preparing its own alternative to Microsoft Office.
Europe Is Breaking Up With Visa and Mastercard — and It’s a $24 Trillion Problem
Europe builds Microsoft-alternative ‘Euro-Office’ to reclaim digital sovereignty
In Portugal we can choose in the terminals to use our local network for debit, Multibanco. This network exists since the early 80s and all banks are part of it.
The problem is that all EU countries have their own system, but the problem is that all work just inside of a country. You can’t use Multibanco in Spain, and someone with a German account can’t use a Girocard in Portugal, the same for international online shops.
If I recall correctly, the systems Portugal, Spain and Italy already have were having talks to integrate with each other, in hopes of then being able to integrate with the new German/European initiative with minimal effort.
I’ve not looked it up again in a long while, but apparently we now have interoperability with MB Way and Bancomat. Idk how well it works though. https://bizum.com/es/internacional/
If you use it to pay in stored however, the issue is not really that you can’t use MB Way in Spain, it’s that Bizum is not that deployed in physical stores yet. And by yet I mean this shit started deployment like 5 years ago and no store I know near me takes it. Edit: never fucking mind! Apparently they are launching something similar to google pay in May this year.
Yes, of course, but at least we can avoid using ‘murican’ payment systems inside the country. Can’t wait for Wero to be available here, will change my cards to it.
Yeah but non nationals of Portugal cannot use it. So it doesnt help cross border payments like UPI from India does
Pix from Brazil is also amazing, instantenous and free for individuals